Browns provide opportunity for Bears to get back on track

Friday

Oct 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM

This is pretend week for the Chicago Bears. Pretend that Sunday’s game against Cleveland means everything. And pretend that last week’s 45-10 loss at Cincinnati meant nothing. Playing the Browns is one of the most sure-fire cures for a football hangover, but the Bears like to pretend Sunday’s foe is fearsome.

“He’s the cornerstone to that whole defense. Everything comes around him,” Cutler said.

Tight end Greg Olsen and coach Lovie Smith said the Browns don’t look like a 1-6 team.

“As you watch them on film, you see a different team, a team that should have beaten Cincinnati,” Smith said. “So it’s a big challenge for us.”

That’s only if you watch one of the seven game films. The Browns peaked with an overtime loss to the Bengals, but the defense that Cutler and Olsen raved about is ranked dead last in the NFL, allowing 415 yards a game, 30 more than next-worst St. Louis. The offense has scored four touchdowns in 81 possessions this season.

And this is nothing new; the Browns are headed for their eighth season of double-digit losses in 10 years. Even Cleveland’s most loyal fans are turning their noses up. Members of the Dawg Pound are trying to get fans to protest by remaining outside the stadium for the opening kickoff of Cleveland’s next home game.

Quarterback Derek Anderson is the lowest-rated passer in the NFL. In Cleveland’s only win, 6-3 over Buffalo, he completed just 2 of 17 passes for 23 yards. And he beat out former first-round pick Brady Quinn.

“Both are really good players,” said Bears backup offensive lineman Kevin Schaffer, a former Brown. “D.A. has a great arm. He’s a guy who is going to sit in the pocket and make a play. Brady can’t throw the ball quite as hard, but he makes up for it with his athleticism. He is more of a movement quarterback.”

As a wide receiver, Cribbs has 10 catches for 38 yards – which tops his output from each of the two previous years. But as a return man, the former Kent State quarterback leads the NFL in punt returns (16.4 yards) and is fourth in kickoff returns (28.9).

Cribbs gave the Browns a halftime lead over the Vikings in their season opener with a 67-yard punt return. He is the Browns’ best hope Sunday in a marquee matchup of return men with Chicago’s Devin Hester.

“He has the speed and quickness to change direction and beat you with a mistake,” Cribbs said of Hester on a conference call. “The kind of runner I am, I hit the hole quick and am going to try to stiff-arm and beat teams at their own game: square up, right at them. Even in tackling drills, I don’t do too much shaking. One move and I hit the hole.”

That’s how the Bears would like to treat the Browns; hit them hard and never look back in recovering from an ugly loss.

“When you have a bad taste in your mouth,” Lovie Smith said, “you want to be able to do something about it.”

The Browns offer a perfect chance.

Matt Trowbridge can be reached at (815) 987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.

Prediction: Bears 31, Browns 6

Bears Keys to the Game

Don’t kick to Josh Cribbs. “They are a great football team and a great (special teams) unit. I’m pretty sure that they will kick to me and we’ll battle this thing out,” Cribbs said. Why? The Pro Bowl kick returner is the only threat for a Cleveland team that has scored four touchdowns in 81 offensive possessions all season.

Revive the pass rush. The Bears had 14 sacks the first four games and were 3-1. They’ve had none the last two and gone 0-2. “I don’t think we need a lot more blitzing,” defensive tackle Anthony Adams said. “We can handle it up front. We take that challenge to heart.”

Keep passing. This looks like the perfect game to get Matt Forte going. Cleveland is ranked No. 31 in rushing defense. By comparison, Detroit – Forte’s only good game – is ranked No. 20. But gaining 121 yards against the Lions didn’t make a difference for Forte in the long run, as he’s been held to 23 and 24 yards the last two weeks. The Bears need to win, period. So that means pass first, then run if they get a big lead.

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